Knitting basket

Way back in 2010 I made myself a crochet bag.  I have just spent 20 minutes hunting for the post about it, but can't find it anywhere. You're just have to take my work for it.  I also made a shorter version for mum which you can see here.  

At the Festival of Quilts, she asked me to make her a taller version with pockets round the outside.  We chose the fabric and then of course, I did nothing!  When my sewing motivation returned at the end of the year, I got right on it.

There are two things crying out to me in this photo.  Firstly, it looks out of proportion.  Funnily enough, in person it doesn't.  Maybe it was the camera angle.  Secondly, fabric direction.  Yes, I messed that one up!  It is lined in the same green spot fabric that I used for the top of the outer pocket.  The pockets go all the way round and I've separated them with lines of stitching, leaving pockets of various widths.

I think the proportions look better in this photo.  I used the same pattern as for the first ones, but only the measurements and the base template.  I put it together in the way that made sense to me, and of course the pocket was my own invention (clearly not a new one!).  It stands quite firm as it's got a layer of fusible fleece and a layer of medium-weight interfacing.  It's not quilted as mum's not a fan of the quilted look.

The inside is possibly not as neat as it could be, but the lining isn't baggy so I call it a success!

Zakka Style Sew Along week 4 - Sewing Kit

Are you all surprised?  It's week 4 and I haven't dropped out yet!!  I'm still raring to go on this SAL, though there's a quilt coming up and I haven't decided whether to go for it or not yet.  Part of me says "YES, do it!" but another part of me thinks it's a tall order for a weekend!  We'll see.

If you're joining in the SAL, or just want to see what's going on, the link up is here, and this week's host is I'm a Ginger Monkey.  For some reason, I'd got it into my head that this week's sewing kit was going to be complicated.  It's not, but having finished it, I wish I'd made it more complex, a zip pocket would be a great addition for a start, as would a little hoop to hook on the rings I use to hold embroidery floss.  Well, depending on what Sandra says (see below), I might be making another.

It had to be bunny themed!  I used this navy bunny fabric and matched it with a softer flower print and my rabbit stamp came out again, this time to be used with the black ink pad I'd bought.

Nice and simple.  Once again, I had forgotten to buy fibrefill (I bought some last night, what's the betting I don't need it for months now?) so I stuffed this one with my ORTs.  Although I never joined in the ORT thing that's been going on around blogland for a couple of years, I have two ORT jars, one next to my sofa in the living room and one by my sewing machine, it's just a handy place to put threads and they've finally come in useful.

For some reason, I had it in my head that the pin cushion was velcro'd on to the main part of the sewing caddy.  Despite there being no velcro mentioned in the materials list...  When I finished it, I was disappointed that I hadn't added velcro, but I kept thinking it was part of the pattern so would come up soon.  I think I realised it wasn't just after I finished sewing the whole thing up!  I added snaps.  They don't work.  They just wont close.  I hate bloody snaps.

This is the outside of the roll.  I used some cord for closure and added on this machine embroidered rabbit that the lovely Sandra made for me.  And this is where Sandra comes in.  I think I've broken it!  Look!  That happened when I pressed it, but the rest of the white meshy stuff wont come off, what have I done??  Can I fix it??

So there we go.  Week 4 completed, but not to my satisfaction.  I said at the beginning of the post that I'd been dreading making this for no good reason.  Well, in the interests of procrastinating, I spent Saturday cutting and preparing.

Weeks 4, 5 and 6 of the SAL.

4 placemats, 1 pair of oven gloves, an appliqued babygrow and a wine bottle cosy, all waiting to be sewed!  I feel so virtuous!

A swap

A few days ago I showed you the wonderful parcel that the lovely Katherine had sent me.  Well, now I'm a little ashamed to show you the pathetic parcel I sent her.  Rest assured, her generosity will not me going unreturned, there'll be another parcel going out to her next year - maybe for some event like Shrove Tuesday (eh, Sandra?).

Katherine had told me she liked red and blue.  To be honest, that didn't come as a surprise as I've been following her blog for ages!  I decided to make her a crafty accessory set in Bliss. 

Eagle-eyed and elephant-memoried (yes, I did just make that up) readers may remember that Katherine made me this exact same needle case from Sew Pretty Homestyle.

Except Katherine's was much more skillfully sewn!

I added a little pin cushion heart with a strange cut out and sewn flower type affair on the front.

It doesn't look quite so strange from this angle...

It has a naked backside.

I also made a little fabric tray from the 2010 Sewing Calendar, much like the one I made for myself.  A little confession here Katherine, that red dot print isn't Bliss... I just didn't have any more pieces big enough so had to break out some Michael Miller dots.

Hmmm... I've seen better but it was made with love and I was trying my hardest to make it neat.  It's not like I just whipped up any old thing.  The self-pity!  Stop whining Wendy.

Lastly came a little button bag from Sew Pretty Homestyle.  I really like this one and think it worked out quite well.

And here's the combined contents of my meagre parcel together.  I'm sorry Katherine, I didn't even send any chocolate.  What is wrong with me?!?

 

Crochet hook holder tutorial

Are you ready for another tutorial?  This crochet hook case is a perfect companion to the knitting needle roll I published a tutorial for a couple of weeks ago.

I'm using the same fabrics as they are both destined as a birthday present for my mum.

First, cut out your fabric.  You need:

1 x outer fabric 12 x 7.5 inches

1 x inner fabric 12 x 7.5 inches

1 x fusible fleece 11 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches

1 x flap outer 8.5 x 2 1/4 inches

1 x flap lining 8.5 x 2 1/4 inches

1 x pocket outer 12 x 4.5 inches

1 x pocket lining 12 x 4.5 inches

a 2 inch length of ribbon/braid/string

a button

I used plain white fabric for my pocket lining to prevent too much bulk as my fabric is home decor weight.  The inside of the pocket wont be seen.  Quilting weight fabric will work fine, you could also use denim or linen, whatever you fancy.

Place your pocket pieces and your flap pieces right sides together and pin.

For the pocket, sew one long edge only, flip so the fabrics are right sides out, press, topstitch if you want to.  I didn't.  Because I forgot, not for any scientific or design reason!

For the flap stitch one long edge and one short edge, depending on whether you want the flap on the left (like mine) or the right (not like mine).  The short edge that you sew up will be facing into the middle of the roll, not the edge.  Again flip, press, topstitch (or not).

I cut my fusible fleece a quarter of an inch smaller all round than the outer piece.  This just makes it easier to fuse in place without making a mess of your ironing board, iron or pressing cloth.  As it's only an 1/8 inch smaller along each edge it will still be caught in the seam allowance in case it becomes unstuck later.  I have had that happen to me, usually when I'm doing lots of turning, turning, unpicking, resewing, turning, turning, unpicking etc.  Fuse the fleece to your outer piece.

Place your outer piece right-side-up on a flat surface, put the pocket, also right side up on top, lining up the bottom and side raw edges.  Add the flap to the top corner with the two raw edges lined up with the left edge and the top edge.

Place your outer piece on top, right side down.  Fold your ribbon/braid/string/lock of hair in half and tuck inside your sandwich.  It needs to be loop-face inwards, raw edges sticking out about half an inch.  I positioned mine just above the pocket.

Pin the whole heap together.

Sew all the way round, leaving a 4 inch turning gap along one edge.  I would recommend doing this where there is only 2 layers of fabric - so on the upper edge towards the right, next to your flap.

Clip your corners, turn the whole thing inside out, making sure your pocket is on the inside and not the outside (cue loads of confusion as I can't figure out why my pocket is facing the wrong way... then realise you just need to turn it!), press the seams and top stitch if you want.  I didn't, not because I forgot this time but because the seams were so bulky that I would have made a right mess of it.

Slip stitch or ladder stitch your opening closed.  For some reason I thought you might like to see a picture of the back at this stage. 

Now you are going to create the pockets.  You can either do this by eye, use a quilting guide, or drawer the lines to be stitched on with a removable/fading/wash off pen.  I left a big gap on the right, about 4 inches I think, for scissors and "stuff", then I marked out a line 2 inches away, then 1 3/4, then 1 1/2 etc, down to 1 inch, then I alternated the rest of the lines between 1 inch and 5/8 inch to make room for different sized hooks.

Use either a contrasting thread or one that will blend in and stitch down each line, back tacking a little at either end.  I used my walking foot for this and didn't have any puckering problems as I'd had with the needle roll.

Quilt along all your lines, then snip the threads, unless you prefer the wild look as above.

Once again, I seemed to think you'd like to see the back...

Fold your case along one of the lines to the right, press the seam to help it fold.

Then fold the left side in along one of those lines until it looks nicely layered.  Find a button that will fit through your loop (you can plan this bit in advance, but who doesn't like the "damn, I don't have a matching button that fits" moment at times like this?  Strangely enough, I did have a matching button that fitted...)

Stick a pin where your button was to mark the spot, then sew your button in place.

Here's what it'll look like from the back.

And here's how it looks all folded up.

Much better than the last one!

P.S. I cleaned the pterydactyl poo off my car.  Well no, I didn't do it, a man did.  I paid him, I didn't just force him to do it then drive off.

knitting needle roll tutorial

Last week was a barren crafting-desert.  This week will be different.  I got so much done this weekend I surprised myself.  Not only did I finish 8 WIPs, I also completed 2 projects from scratch and am working on more as we speak.  Well, clearly not as I'm typing, but I'll be going back to them soon.  I'm not going to show you all as once as I might not make anything else all week and we'll be back to me posting about bin wars and stuff. 

I'm a member of the Crafty Christmas Club blog and one of the members over there was looking for a knitting needle roll pattern.  As I was planning on making one for my mum for her birthday anyway, I offered to put together a tutorial for her as I was doing it.  I thought I'd post it over here too just in case anyone is vaguely interested!

You all know by now that I'm no sewing expert - or expert in anything actually (Oh, maybe plastics.  And the USSR and Poland during communist times.  And maybe English grammar, none of which help me sew a straight line), however I do know how to make a knitting needle roll as it was one of the first things I made and I've since thought about how I can improve that design.  I made a couple of mistakes and they will help you to make a perfect roll!

I'm using the leftover Amy Butler home-dec weight fabric I used to make knitting/crochet baskets for both me and my mum eons ago. 

You will need:

Outer fabric 23 x 21 inches

Inner fabric 23 x 21 inches

Fusible fleece 22.5 x 20.5 inches

Pocket fabric 9.5 x 23.5 inches

Pocket lining fabric (I chose a plain white as it wont be seen) 9.5 x 23.5 inches

Approx 30 inches of ribbon

Matching sewing thread

Contrasting sewing thread

As I was using offcuts from a different project, the inner fabric wasn't quite big enough.  Instead, I cut what I had (to 23 x 19 inches), then added a strip 23 x 3 inches to the bottom, ironing the seams open.  You could of course make the whole roll, or just the outer piece, from patchwork.

Fuse your fusible fleece to the back of your inner fabric panel.  I cut it 1/2 inch smaller all round so the seams wont be so bulky and so that you can line it up easier than if it were the same size as the fabric panel.  Make sure you fuse well - it does take a bit of time, but trust me, it's annoying when it doesn't stick properly and unpeels later.

Now to create the pocket.  Pin the pocket and pocket lining fabric right sides together and sew using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Leave a big gap for turning along the bottom as it'll get sewn shut later.  You do not need to slip stitch it shut.

Turn the right way out, poke out your corners (I use my trusty paintbrush that's never seen paint in its life) and press.  I then top stitches 2 parallel lines in my contrast thread along the top edge, roughly 1/8 inch from the top and then 1/8 inch from that line.

You can either wing the next part, use a seam guide, or draw on your lines.  I didn't think about using the seam guide (which would have been a good idea) until I'd finished so I drew on lines using my fade-away pen.  The first was 2 inches from the edge, the next 1 3/4 inches etc down to 7/8 inch.  I then alternated between 1 inch gaps and 7/8 inch gaps - remember that knitting needles come in different widths.  Now pin the pocket panel to the bottom of the inner piece - I should probably mention at this point that the 23 inches is the width.  You may also notice my pocket panel is too small, that's because I cut it too short, I adjusted the measurements for you!

Sew down these lines with your contrast thread.  I made a mistake on the first few I did.  I started at the bottom and so the fabric puckered at the top.  Make sure you sew top down each line, then any puckers at the bottom will be hidden in the seam later.

Sorry about that poor photo.  Even though I took this in the sunniest room in the house during the day and turned the light on my sewing machine off, you have to remember that I live in England and it is October!  The following photo shows you what it looks like after you've sewn your lines, you can see on the ones to the left the puckers caused by sewing bottom up.  Snip off your threads from the front of the piece, don't worry about the back.

Cut your ribbon in half, place the two pieces together and pin about half way down on the right edge.  Make sure you place your pin at least 1 inch away from the edge of the fabric or your sewing machine needle may have a nasty accident.

It's a good idea to also pin the other end of the ribbon to the centre of the pockets to make sure you don't accidentally sew it into a seam later.

Place the outer and inner panels together, right sides in and pin all around, leaving a gap for turning.  I would strongly advise you do this on the left side (away from the ribbon) and above the pocket.  I stupidly left my gap on the pocket and had a right palaver hand sewing it up later.

Sew all the way round, turn, poke out those corners and press.  Now slip stitch or ladder stitch your opening closed.  I originally left the gap on the pocket as I was planning to top stitch all the way round, but after turning I realised it would be messy as there is a lot of bulk in the bottom edge and the bottom half of the side edges.

Fill with knitting needles - these are mine, I have ordered mum a set to go in this, but they haven't arrived yet.  Probably because I only ordered them after I'd made it!

To roll it up, fold down the flap onto the needles and roll from the left, then wrap the ribbon around the roll and tie in a bow.

Ta da!  One knitting needle roll and one very washed out photo.

That's a better photo.  See that red organza in the picture behind?  I bought that to make myself a scarf.  Bet it's over a year before you see me blogging about that!